Finally got moved into our new place and got back on line....

Shelter Island, 8-31-02, 6:30am -12pm
Fished w/ Steve in some mild temps, but strongish winds. Spent all morning trying out some new baits he's pouring, kind of a Senko. I fished it on a 3/16oz. Owner sledhead. Spent most of my time around the boats, but did venture back to the point for an hour or so (wind beat me back after a while). Color didn't seem to be much of an issue as I got fish on clear w/ holo flake, smoke w/ holo, motoroil w/ red flake, red w/ red flake, fire tiger, chartruese w/ chart flake, white and black, and green w/ holo.

Only really consistent thing was the numbers of shorts (even on bigger baits). 15 or bass, but only three legals. The legals were spotties, almost all the rest were calicoes (weird stuff). Out on the point I also started a bite on the odder fishes of the sea. At least odd for me, I target bass, so I rarely see anything else. But sat. I got 2 needle fish, a yellowfin croaker, a short white, and a mackie. Odd.

After landing and packing up, I took a trip over to the San Diego Sailing Center in hopes of getting a different yak. I was not disappointed. Rick (the owner?) did everything he could to get me what I needed, with the money I had. He gave me a very fair price for my trade-in and dropped the price of yak I wanted. This was so easy as to be almost fun. No pressure sales, no excuses. He got me what I needed, for the money I had (wasn't much unfortunately). In fact he basically told me I didn't need something I thought I'd need. If I get that rudder though, it will be from SDSC. This was a duplicate of the experience I had when I bought my Navigator from Bryan? Brian? He got me what I needed w/in the budget I had. No pressure, no pitches for overpriced doodads. One cannot praise places like SDSC enough, not when so many businesses these days seem to see the customer as merely a nuisance, or worse their own personal bankroll. Thanks San Diego Sailing Center.

Dana Point, 9-02-01, 5:30am -11:30am
Launched at the baby beach and headed for the other end of the harbor. Heard the 3/4 day boats skipper talking about the dead bite, 5 degree water temp drop, and decided to stay inside and leave early. Worked around the receiver for a couple bites, then headed over to talk to some skippers and DHs I've worked with. They all confirmed the bite (or lack there of), confirming my decision to go home early. By this time it was maybe 7am. Then my mind started thinking cigarette. Damn, I'd only quit the day before and a bummed smoke would've come easy. So, I paddled out to the point figuring that at least I'd get some exercise and get to test out my Tourer.

Turned out to be a wise move, no smoking was done, plus I picked off 2 barely's and 3 short calicoes in some rather frigid water. All were taken on watermelon / red flake 4" Powerpulse worms on a 3/16oz. Owner sledhead. Nothing else I threw got touched. not even my go to bait. After maybe an hour the water got a little bouncy (new south had started poking through), and the wind kicked up. So I headed back, picking off one very short sand bass off the jetty. Tried the receiver again, but it just wasn't happening. So, I slow trolled back to the baby beach. That turned out to be quite a zooish scene. Seems everybody and their mother though it was a good day to go paddle. Actually had to wait for some sand to open up before I could land.


BTW: The Tourer is a great yak. I thought it was more stable than the Navigator, and much much faster. Didn't find it that much harder to turn either. Only negative was that it is a wet ride. Guess I need some scupper plugs and a sponge.

Amish Ed




Amish Ed
You Can't Catch it again if
it's Dead!

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

Nice job on the bass! A friend of mine is going to buy a Tourer soon, I think it will be my next yak, too. Funny you should mention the wetness in the seat area compared to the Navigator. I was under the impression the 'gator was a much wetter ride than the Tourer. Oh well, if thats your only complaint, it must be a nice kayak. Can't wait to test paddle one!
Tommy

Hey Tom,
I found the Tourer to handle the wind swell a little better than the Nav, and though it tracks better, it also tracks more when it goes off course. Not a big deal really, I was getting used to it by the end of the day. Tight turns (i.e. when repositioning while fishing) were as easy as the Nav.

The wet ride was due in part to my fat butt sinking the seat a bit too much, but it just sits lower too. Still can't figure why it seems to ride higher though? Water does come in easier over the side right into the seat, though the Nav isn't great about that either. I'm sure a sponge and plugs will solve most of the issue.

Overall, after fishing it only once, I can't see why anyone would want a Nav over a Tourer. My only reason for picking the Nav originally was a space concern. Looking back, I should've found the extra 2.5'. Stability is the usual reason I hear for going for the Nav, but if that's a big issue, get a Fish and Dive because the Tourer is as good or better than the Navigator.

When are you looking to change over?

Amish Ed
You Can't Catch it again if
it's Dead!

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

Ed,
We have a Cobra Navigator, Fish N' Dive and Tandem as well as an OK Scupper Classic. I would like to go from the Navigator to the Tourer for speed, the Classic is all right but I prefer the Cobra Kayaks. Recently we took the yaks out to Perris and dumped them a bunch of times and the Cobras' hatches were almost completly water tight while the OK's hatches had gallons of water in them. I'll probly go down to San Diego Sailing Center and try the Tourer out. I probly wont get one for a while, just thinking about it. Thanks for your input.
Tommy

Was the fishing really so bad that dumping the yaks looked fun?HeHeHe....

My Nav's 10" hatch was so so. I took on a lot of water when I took it out to the Point. Where this last time I had almost nothing inside, even though the 10" was partially submerged at least half the time. I'm heading back out there in the morning, so we'll see how it does on trip #2.

Amish Ed
You Can't Catch it again if
it's Dead!

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

:Was the fishing really so bad that dumping the yaks looked fun?HeHeHe....
LOL, how did you know? My friends started rolling and jumping off of theirs, I was intent on fishing but they kept following me everywhere I went! After one small dropshot fish I came to my senses and knew every bass within a mile of me would be scared away so I put my gear away and started rolling around trying to stand up in my kayak. We all smelled like bass at the end. It was fun but you can bet I took a good thorough shower that night :)
Tommy